US2130907A - Clutch mechanism for motor cars - Google Patents

Description

p 1933- o. SIEIDENBERG 2,130,907

CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR MOTOR CARS Filed April 28, 19:50

ATTORN EYS Patented Sept. 20, 1938 PATENT OFFICE CLUTCH lVIECHANISM FOR MOTOR CARS Otto Seidenberg, Berlin, Germany, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application April 28,

1930, Serial No. 448,028

In Germany May 1, 1929 7 Claims.

V This invention is concerned with a clutch mechanism'for motor driven vehicles in which the gas pedal or accelerator isexclusively used for throwing the clutch into and out of action.

In devices of this kind it is of particular importance that all the movements of the pedal are transmitted on the throttle valve of 'the carburettor and the control valve for the vacuum cylinder for the clutch motion with a certain play and as softly as possible in order that heavy shocks are avoided upon the clutch being thrown in or out of action. According to this present invention I obtain this result by arranging the known'lost motion between the control valve and the gas pedal within the valve itself without increase of its stroke whereas simultaneously the 7 outlet for the air from the operating cylinder for the clutch can be controlled by a brake valve controlled by the operating piston in its one end 20 position. I

In order that myinvention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art reference may be had to the drawing illustrating a preferredembodiment of my invention, and in which Fig; 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of my complete clutch operating system,

' Fig. 2 a section of the operating cylinder for the clutch movement, and the retarding or throttling valve associated with the said cylinder,

Fig. 3 a section of the reversing valve.

' The clutch mechanism comprises a reversing valve i and operating cylinder} having a retarding or throttling valve 3 and a controlled nozzle 4. 'A cut-off cock 5 permits the operator to put the whole system out of operation.

Within the reversing valve I I arrange a valve member lt which is connected by a linkage 8 with the gas pedal 1 being under the influence of a tension spring 6. The casing of valve l is connected with the manifold 53 of the machine driving combustion engine and with the clutch actuating cylinder 2 by conduits l5, 16, the valve member 18 governing the movements of a piston I1 reciprocating within the cylinder 2 as will be explained more in detail hereinafter.

The carburettor ID carries the throttle valve actuating lever l2 which is under the influence of a tension spring H and which is connected by a linkage l3 with the gas pedal .1, the said linkage being provided with a play or lost motion M, permitting thepedal l to rock a certain angular distance, beforeany action on the throttle valve is produced. The linkage 8 acts on the valvemember ill of the valve lnwhich is con- 552 structedand. actingas 'athree-waywalve so that,

either the conduits l5, l6 from the manifold 9 to the operating cylinder 2 are open and the air passage l9 leading from the interior of the valve casing to the outer atmosphere is closed, or that this latter passage is open and the communication of the cylinder 2 with the manifold 9 is interrupted. The valve I thus may in fact permit, under certain operating conditions, an inflow of fresh air into the manifold 9 during the movement of the valve member l8. However, since the stroke of this member is very small and usually does not exceed 3 mm., and since this stroke is performed very quickly, the volume of the fresh air thus supplied to the manifold 9 is so small that it is of no significance for the operation of the motor.

It is Well known that with clutch mechanisms of the character described, a certain amount of play or lost motion is introduced between the pedal 1 and the valve member l8 in order that the further movement of the gas pedal after clutch engagement may take place without obstruction or hindrance. As far as I know this play or lost motion has, with formerly used devices, been interposed into the operating linkage outside the valve casing by the controlling cone or valve member l8 being extended outside the casing by means of a rigidly acting pin or rod within which, that is outside the valve casing, the play or lost motion was arranged. This known device was objectionable in that the controlling cone or valve member was put under tilting strains so that it could not be uniformly pressed upon its point or cone in an exactly axial direction, so that frequently leakages were produced which are very objectionable view of the comparatively small vacuum.

In accordance with this present invention I avoid this objection by constructing the valve as illustrated in Fig. 3. Accordingly the conical valve member I8 is separately guided within the valve casing l whereas the rod 8 actuating the valve member has no rigid connection therewith but may freely slide within the central bore or recess 3| of member 18, the rod 8 having at its one end merely an enlarged head 32 by which the valve member 18 may be slid against the action 01 a spring 33 so as to establish communication of the conduits l5 and I6. It will be readily appreciated that by this construction an exactly axial motion of the valve member may be obtained so that the same may always be in an exact and tight contact with its valve seat.

Within the cylinder 2 I arrange an operating piston H which acts on. the vehicle clutch so as.

to throw the same into or out of operation, Fig. 2 illustrating the operating system in the position of the parts which they assume when the clutch is thrown out. The piston I1 is, by means of the piston rod 23, connected with the clutch operating lever 2|, the latter being under the influence of a suitable clutch spring 22 tending to throw the clutch into action and to move piston I1 towards the left hand end of its cylinder 2 (Fig. 2). The piston may also be acted upon by the vacuum existing within the manifold 93, this vacuum communicating with the rear end of the cylinder 2 by the conduits I5 and I6 when the control valve I I is correspondingly adjusted. It will be understood that whenever the vacuum within the manifold '9 is communicated to the cylinder 2 the piston I1 is retracted into its clutch opening position contrary to the action of the clutch spring 22. a

The vacuum might be very abruptly destroyed in the rear end compartment of piston I 'I by the operation of the control valve I resulting in the clutch being thrown in with a shock or snap action. According to a further feature of my invention there is provided a brake mechanism braking the piston I! in its clutch engaging movement so that the clutch may be shifted into operation in a soft manner. This retardation or braking of the movement of piston I! is obtained by the retarding or throttling valves 3 and 4 carried by the operating cylinder 2 and dash respectively the valve 3 being acted upon immediately before the clutch is engaged by an adjustable driver 24 carried by the piston rod 23 and co-operating with a disc 26 on the valve spindle 25. When the piston rod 23 is projected by clutch spring 22 after the vacuum conduits I5, I6 are interrupted by valve I, the driver 24 pulls the valve rod 25 forwardly, compressing a spring 2?, so that the spring 28 of the valve disc 29 may operate the retarding valve 3 and close the air exit passage 29' indicated in Fig. 2 by an arrow, so that the air contained within the cylinder may only be discharged through a conduit 3!] being under the manual control of valve 4 on the dash of the vehicle. When the piston I! is retracted it permits a return of the valve rod 25 under the action of the spring 21 lifting the valve disc 29 from its seat against the action of spring 28 so that the retarding valve is again opened and the piston II is immediately retracted into its clutchdisengaged position. In Fig. 2 the plain lines illustrate the clutch disengaged and the dotted lines the clutch engaged position of the piston rod 23. The'control nozzle 4 connected with the operating cylinder by tube 30 serves to permit a controlled egress of air from the cylinder and thus effect passage and thus a soft and resilient clutch engaging action of the clutch which may be perfectly accommodated to the character of the respective clutch construction.

The operation of the reversing valve I requires. that a lost motion M be arranged in the linkage I3 in order that the valve I may at first be operated without influencing however the position of the throttle valve I 2.

v The operation of the new clutch system is as follows: i

In the diagram Fig. 1 the gas pedal is assuming its position I at which the motor is running idle and the clutch has not yet been thrown into action. The reversing valve I is closing the air passage I9 and is establishing communication between the manifold 9 and the clutch operating cylinder 2 so that the vacuum existing within the manifold 9 when the machine is running will now act on the cylinder 2 and retract thepiston l1 into its clutch disengaged position tensioning the clutch spring 22. The clutch is thus thrown out and the motor running idle. 7

If now the gas pedal or accelerator I is rocked into the position II there results an operation of the valve I8 and the position of the throttle valve I2 of the carburettor I0 is in no way changed, on

account of the lost motion I4 interposed into the linkage I3. The motor is thus still running idle; the reversing valve I has now however interrupted the vacuum conduit to the manifold 9 and established communication with the outer atmosphere, that is established a communication between the valve passage I9 and the passage I5 leading to the rear end at the cylinder. Accordingly air of atmospheric pressure then flows into the compartment behind the piston I1 so that the vacuum is destroyed and the clutch spring 22 permitted to rock theclutch lever -2I into its clutch engaged position. Since at this stage of the operation the retarding or braking valve 3 is still opened this movement of piston-l1 is at first performed rather quickly, the movement being however retarded or braked immediately before the clutch is thrown in, since the driver 2 of the piston rod 23 closes the valve 3 as above explained. The air which is still within the cylinder 2 will thus be compressed by the piston I1 so as to retard the movement thereof, the air being permitted to escape at a slower or quicker rate depending upon the adjustment of the control cook or nozzle 4. Accordingly the clutch is, as a result of this air cushioning effect, thrown softly and resiliently into action,

If the gas pedal 1 is in its position III, the reversing valve I is still in the same adjustment as before. The pressure conditions within the operating cylinder remain the same. The clutch remains engaged and the motor is now running with full speed or power since the gas lever 'I has now fully opened the throttle valve I2 of the carburettor, the fuel inlet to the carburettor thus being controllable within the range between the positions II and III.

The braking of the motor is effected in the following way:

If the gas pedal 1 is in its position II, the motor is running idle and the clutch engaged, as above 0 described. In this condition the motor may act as a brake as will be readily understood by those familiar with this art.

As is obvious from the above specification the clutch mechanism may be described as a selfcontained independent unity. The same can thus be mounted upon an automobile of any type and size, the simplicity of the'whole system permitting the use of standard parts for constructing it and even permitting the motorcar driver of average skill to himself install the above described clutch operating system on his vehicle.

I claim: a

1. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder closed at both ends having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder at one side of the pistonand said manifold, means controlled by said accelerator for opening and closing said fluid transmitting connection, the chamber of the cylinder located at the side of the piston opposite. to the part communicating with said manifold communicating with the outer air, a normally open valve adapted partly to close said chamber, and means controlled by said piston operative near the end of the clutch closing stroke thereof for moving said valve into position for partly closing said chamber and adapted upon the return stroke of said piston to move the valve into opening position.

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder closed at both ends having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder at one side of the piston and said manifold, means controlled by said accelerator for opening and closing said fluid transmitting connection, the chamber of the cylinder located at the side of the piston opposite to the part communicating with said manifold being open to the outer air, a normally open valve adapted partly to close said chamber, a spring tending to move said valve into position for opening said chamber to the outer air, and means connected with said piston and adapted near the end of the clutch closing stroke of the piston to relieve said valve of the pressure of said spring and to allow the same to move into position for partly closing said chamber to the outer air.

3. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder closed at both ends having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder at one side of the piston and said manifold, the chamber of said cylinder located at the side of the piston opposite to the part communicating with said manifold being provided with an opening and a vent, a valve adapted to close said opening, and means controlled by said piston and operative near the end of the clutch closing stroke thereof for moving said valve into position for closing said opening and other means adapted upon the return stroke of said piston to return the valve intoopening position.

4. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder closed at both ends having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder at one side of the piston and said manifold, the chamber of said cylinder located at the side of the piston opposite to the part communicating with said manifold being provided with an opening and a vent, a

valve adapted to close said opening, means controlled by said piston and operative near the end of the clutch closing stroke for moving said valve into position for closing said opening and other means adapted to return the same into opening position upon the return stroke of said piston, and means for regulating said vent.

5. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder closed at both ends having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder at one side of the piston and said manifold, the chamber of said cylinder located at the side of the piston opposite to the part communicating with said manifold being open to the outer air, a valve adapted partly to close said chamber to the outer air, springs acting on said valve one tending to move the same into opening position and the other tending to move the same into closing position, and a stern acting on said spring tending to hold the valve in opening position and adapted to be engaged by said piston moving into clutch applying position near the end of the clutch closing stroke thereof for rendering said spring tending to open the valve inoperative.

6. In a motor vehicle, the combination, with the engine and its manifold, the accelerator, and the clutch mechanism, of a cylinder having a piston reciprocating therein, an operative connection between said piston and the clutch mechanism, a fluid transmitting connection between said cylinder and said manifold, and a valve controlled by said accelerator for opening and closing said fluid transmitting connection, said valve comprising a casing included in said fluid transmitting connection, a valve body slidable in said casing, a spring acting on said valve body in a direction for closing said fluid transmitting connection, and a stem connected with said accelerator and movable relatively to said valve body in the direction of the action of said spring and adapted for positive engagement therewith when moving in the other direction.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a cylinder having cover plates at its ends, a piston in said cylinder, means for connecting one end of said cylinder to a source of lower than atmospheric pressure, a relatively large opening at the other end of the cylinder, a valve adapted to be operated by movement of said piston to close said opening, a restricted air outlet at said last named end of said piston whereby said piston and cylinder act as a dashpot when said relatively large opening is closed.

OTTO SEIDENBERG.

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